Insects are the new oil: how food, medicine and cosmetics are made from paws and wings

What insects can be used to build an environmentally friendly production

Production requires insects, which

They multiply quickly and increase their protein mass; the following are well suited for this: flour beetles, migratory locusts, desert locusts, and house crickets.

In addition, the larva of the South American black soldier fly is well suited to these same requests: when cultivated on an organic substrate, it increases its mass 500 times in one week.

The fly is omnivorous, capable of developing under wide conditionsranges of temperature and humidity, does not live in human habitations. When properly cultivated, its larvae can contain 40% protein, 40% fat, calcium, and phosphorus.

Proteins and fats, which are obtained from the conversion of organic waste with the help of the black lion, can be used in food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.

These larvae can also feed on organic waste from the food industry, retail chains and restaurants. 

Insects can be used to make balanced animal feed

In order to produce animal feed, technology was developed to obtain feed protein from industrially cultivated insects.

Scientists in Brazil have tested the useinsects as a suitable ingredient in animal diets. Tests have shown that crickets, black soldier fly larvae and mealworms have protein digestibility levels similar to soybeans but provide more lipids (10 to 35%), vitamins and minerals.

In studies conducted jointly by UFMG andThe Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) has also studied the effects of this feed on quail, fish and domestic animals. The results showed better feed conversion and better meat quality due to the high lipid content of the insects.

Chitin, lauric acids and antimicrobial peptides found in insects can be beneficial for meat and dairy animals, and, for example, can reduce the need for antibiotics.

And in November 2020, it became known that Nestle was the first of the large companies to begin producing pet food based on insect protein - more precisely, black soldier fly larvae.

While we are talking about one product that willonly sold in Switzerland. However, it is planned to enter other markets next year. As noted by Reuters, the corporation's interest in alternative sources of protein is associated with a desire to meet the demand of buyers concerned about the harm that traditional animal husbandry is causing to the environment.

Protein-lipid meal from insects 

The biomass of flies is not only a raw material for the production of protein products, but also a source of valuable substances. The larva of the black lioness contains the amino acid arginine, which a person receives from his mother's milk.

Now this substance for baby food is obtained from pine nuts, but there is seven times more of it in the larva of a black lion.

Dried insects are used whole orprocessed into flour, 70% protein. It can be used to make bread and baked goods. The characteristics of finished products made from such flour are improved: the freshness of the bread is maintained for up to ten days. Insect flour can also replace soy flour in minced meat and sausages.

Manufacture of medicines and cosmetics

Ingredients derived from insects can even replace some drugs.

Insectta has developed a patentedtechnology for obtaining biomaterials from an exoskeleton. One of these biomaterials, chitosan, is a substance with antioxidant properties; it is used in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products. Insectta plans to produce 500 kg of chitosan per day.

Chitin is one of the most common innature of polysaccharides. It is also found in insects, so they can be used in the production of cosmetics. In its natural state, chitin is found in the shells of sea crabs, shrimp, krill, lobsters, crayfish, as well as in the exoskeleton of zooplankton, including corals and jellyfish. Insects such as butterflies and ladybugs contain chitin in their wings. The cell walls of yeast, fungi and a variety of fungi also contain this natural substance.

Chitosan properties:

  • stops the aging process of the body and normalizes immune responses;
  • heals wounds 
  • enhances blood circulation in microvessels and the smallest capillaries;
  • removes from the body harmful salts of heavy metals, drug residues, radionuclides and other accumulated chemical slags and poisons;
  • cleanses the blood and lymph, inhibits the development of cancer.

Due to its unique properties, chitosanhas a wide range of applications. In medicine: for the manufacture of artificial skin, with the help of which traumatic skin injuries are treated, activation of healing without scarring, which is especially important in the issue of cosmetic correction, as a suture material, due to its hypoallergenic properties and ability to absorb itself.

As a dietary supplement, when ingested chitosanacts in the gastrointestinal tract as a powerful adsorbent and removes toxic substances from it. Chitosan is also used in food manufacturing, agriculture, and environmental protection.

Insect food

Insect food is common in nationalcuisines of Asia (China, Thailand, India, Japan, Cambodia), Africa (Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Botswana, Uganda) and North America (Mexico).

— Insects are just as nutritious as beef, said Marcel Dicke of Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

For example, some caterpillars containmore protein than beef. Beetles and locusts are rich in protein and contain virtually no cholesterol. Grasshoppers contain 20% protein and only 6% fat, and ground beef contains 24% protein versus 18% fat.

To date, more than 1.4 thousand species have been identifiededible arthropods. And experts check them for safety, because many of them contain harmful bacteria that can cause allergies in a person or lead to other, more serious diseases.

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